Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru-based businessman has alleged that he was not allowed to board a flight he had booked the ticket for from KIA on Wednesday because a person with the airlines took umbrage that the former was speaking in Kannada.
Balaji Narayana Murthy told BM, "My GoAir flight to Mumbai was scheduled from 5.45 am. As it had rained heavily last night, I was late by three minutes by the time I reached the check-in counter. There were 14 other passengers who too had arrived late."
He said he was talking to an old man standing next to him about what to do next. "A person at the desk shouted at us saying, You cannot speak in Kannada. I will not allow you for doing this."
Balaji said that though the General Manager came to the spot and agreed to provide alternative tickets to all the 14 passengers. "Then, the same person who had yelled at me for speaking in Kannada, Sandeep, came. He issued tickets for everybody else, but when it was my turn, he asked me to speak to him in English. I refused to do so and he yelled at me again," Balaji said.
GoAir said it was viewing the issue with seriousness. Communication manager of GoAir, Vaibhav Tiwari said the company would never have any such 'Speak English' rule.
27/09/17 Manoj Sharma/Bangalore Mirror